Source: Seward County KS Archives Obituaries, The Liberal Lyre, Seward County, Friday, January 1, 1892.
We are sorry to chronicle the sudden death and accidental death of Wm. Eller, who was well known by many of our readers. Last Thursday in company with his wife and daughter-in-law, he went to Wellsford to spend Christmas with relatives. When the train reached that place, it was dark, and while he was walking from the station with a little child in his arms, he stepped off the platform and fell a distance of about four feet, striking his breast on a tie and his head on a rail. The child was not hurt, but Mr. Eller died the next morning. A very sad Christmas for his relatives and friends, all of whom have the sympathy of our people.
The William Eller whom I am attempting to identify appears on the 1890 census in Oklahoma Territory in Hardesty, just south of Liberal, KS, and he would have relatives in Wellsford, KS (mentioned in the article), specifically two sons, one married, which provides him a daughter-in-law. William's wife appears on the 1895 Kansas state census, residing with one of the sons, but without William, so I estimate his death between 1890 and 1895.
The article circumstantially fits William's profile, but I need more. What if this is another William Eller? The name is common enough. I don't find another on the KS or OK censuses at the right time, but I still can't be certain. I am now trying to find another article in an area paper mentioning the same incident. Surely this was noteworthy enough to appear in a Kiowa or Pratt county paper, which might incidentally mention another name or other significant data.
Kansas Historical Society has a newspaper collection, but on reels not yet digitized. Not so easy to access, but it may be the only way to find what I need.
From their index, the following newspapers were those I found most likely to contain the item:
Preston Plain Dealer 3/9/1889--1/7/1893 Preston Pratt KS P 1188
Pratt County Times and Iuka Traveler 4/25/1890--3/11/1892 Pratt Pratt KS P 995
Pratt County Union 9/3/1891--8/30/1894 Pratt Pratt KS P 957
Pratt County Republican 9/10/1891--9/20/1894 Pratt Pratt KS P 978
Kiowa County Signal [1st] 1/30/1891--3/2/1894 Greensburg Kiowa KS G 720
Kiowa County Times 7/5/1889--11/11/1892 Greensburg Kiowa KS G 791
Republican Banner 4/24/1891--2/22/1895 Greensburg Kiowa KS G 801
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